[Durham INC] See This From Walltown Concerning SCAD

Thu Nov 16 14:18:04 EST 2023

Yes we did.

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    On Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 02:09:54 PM EST, Stephen Knill <knillsj at gmail.com> wrote:  

Agreed. I was thinking that if each community to can vote against SCAD does a letter from that community (along with individual letters) that shows how much of Durham by neighborhood is opposed when we add them all together. Especially in those communities that will likely be most impacted.

I believe we had a number of these back when the INC voted to oppose it including one from Hayti Reborn.

Did you do on the last time around. That could be recycled? 

Thanks. 

Stephen Knill

knillsj at gmail.com

+(917) 620-4941

From:Vannessa Evans <vevans2016 at yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 2:06 PM
To: Stephen Knill <knillsj at gmail.com>
Cc: Mimi Kessler <mimikessler1 at gmail.com>, tom miller <miller.tom2022 at gmail.com>, Beverly Evans <bevans108lou at yahoo.com>, Bonita Green <bonitagreen4durham at gmail.com>, Katie Ross <katie.lund.ross at gmail.com>, Mimi O'Brien <mimi.obrien at mdbf.org>, Nate Baker <ntb29 at cornell.edu>, fayettevillestreetgroup at gmail.com <fayettevillestreetgroup at gmail.com>, inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net <inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net>, jwagstaf1958 at gmail.com <jwagstaf1958 at gmail.com>, melvarigel at aol.com <melvarigel at aol.com>
Subject: Re: See This From Walltown Concerning SCAD

Hi Stephen,

We don't mind doing, but I feel a letter from all the Communities Associations and leaders should go out to inform all of the community members throughout Durham. We are all stronger together than apart so let's all do our part to help make a better Durham.

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On Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 01:14:51 PM EST, Stephen Knill <knillsj at gmail.com> wrote:

Vanessa. Can the BCA send one as an organization too?

Stephen Knill

Mobile +1 917 620 4941
knillsj at gmail.com

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On Nov 16, 2023, at 1:06 PM, Vannessa Evans <vevans2016 at yahoo.com> wrote:

The BCA has sent out to all of our social media pages.

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On Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 09:55:45 AM EST, Stephen Knill <knillsj at gmail.com> wrote:

Great overview. 

Stephen Knill

Mobile +1 917 620 4941
knillsj at gmail.com

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On Nov 16, 2023, at 9:46 AM, Mimi Kessler <mimikessler1 at gmail.com> wrote:

Nice!

Mimi Kessler
919-599-2892

On Thu, Nov 16, 2023 at 9:39 AM tom miller <miller.tom2022 at gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Walltown neighbors and Durham residents,

The Walltown Community Association is calling on Durham residents to tell City Council to vote down the controversial and undemocratic zoning amendment called SCAD.

SCAD is a major rewrite of Durham’s zoning laws that was written by a small group of developers, who refused to incorporate most suggestions from Durham’s residents. Walltown is likely to be a target location for many new SCAD developments. For Walltown residents, some of the main concerns with SCAD are:

·False affordability.New affordable rental units would only have to be affordable for 5 years, and affordable for-sale units only have to be affordable for the first sale. But developers would still get affordable housing incentives from the city! This means your tax dollars will be subsidizing market-rate housing in Durham. 

·Removal of buffers protecting homes from new developments. Buffers reduce the impacts if a large apartment building or a bar is built next to your house by requiring the buildings be set back from the property line.SCAD removes all buffers for large residential buildings, so something like a 5-story apartment building could be built just a few feet from the property line, and lets many commercial developments, including bars, be built without the larger bufferscurrently required when next to a house.

·SCAD will accelerate gentrification and displacement in Black and working-class neighborhoods.As members of the Fayetteville Street Corridor Planning Group have highlighted: “while the SCAD amendment would create more density, this density will not be evenly distributed throughout the city/county.” Read more on their opinion here. 

·SCAD was written behind closed doors.The public was not allowed to give input until after they had written SCAD and discussed it with the City’s Planning Department. They evenused Habitat for Humanity’s name on the proposal without their approval! Andthey have made no changes to the affordability requirements–despite the community demanding this over and over for more than a year. (Read more about this in thesummary from a SCAD Task Force member ) Durham is almost finished with its newComprehensive Plan, which has engaged thousands of Durham residents.The Comprehensive Plan should be the document we use to guide changes to the UDO (Unified Development Ordinance), not SCAD.

SCAD is so long and complex, City Planning has spent days and days of staff time evaluating it, much more than the $4,396 application fee the developers paid to submit SCAD. This means Durham taxpayers have subsidized the review of a plan we don’t want, and they won’t listen to our input on.

This is not how democracy should work, and we need to tell City Council to Say No to SCAD! We are calling on the City Council to reject SCAD during their Monday, November 20th public hearing. It currently looks like a close vote, so Walltown is asking Durham residents to do 2 things:

1.    Fill up City Council chambers for the public hearing on Monday, November 20th at 7 pm. You can register to speakhere (in person or remote). Whether or not you attend in person, you can also provide written comments to the City Council.

2.    Contact the Mayor and other Councilmembers to let them know you disapprove of SCAD.You can email the entire council atcouncil at durhamnc.gov or using the individual contact information below (see also City directory).

·       Elaine O’Neal (Mayor): 919-560-4333, ext. 10269;elaine.oneal at durhamnc.gov 

·       Javiera Caballero: 919-560-4396, ext. 10272;Javiera.Caballero at durhamnc.gov 

·       DeDreana Freeman: 919-560-4396, ext. 10276;DeDreana.Freeman at durhamnc.gov 

·       Jillian Johnson: 919-560-4396, ext. 10278;jillian.johnson at durhamnc.gov 

·       Mark-Anthony Middleton: 919-560-4396, ext. 10277;mark-anthony.middleton at durhamnc.gov 

·       Monique Holsey-Hyman: 919-560-4396, ext. 10274;Monique.Hyman at durhamnc.gov 

·       Leonardo Williams: 919-560-4396, ext. 10273;Leonardo.Williams at durhamnc.gov

Thank you for your time and support. Please let us know if you want to learn more or help the Walltown Community Association make our voices heard.

On behalf of the Walltown Community Association,

Rafe Mazer

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